From now through the December Christmas Ships bonfire, most dates on Madison Park's community calendar come from one source. In its fall newsletter, Friends of Madison Park lists the Art Walk, Party for the Park, Little Beats, Trick or Treat, and a neighborhood meeting on the Bathhouse Renovation and Shoreline Restoration Project. The group's events page adds the Fall Clean-Up, and its holiday page fills in December.
The same group is also leading the effort to renovate the Bathhouse, and that building already hosts a large share of the season. The fall calendar and the redesign are one project seen from two directions. How this winter plays out at the beach shows what the redesign is trying to make permanent.
One October gala pays for the season
The money comes first. Party for the Park is on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Broadmoor Golf Club, with doors at 5:30. The evening includes cocktails, dinner, live and silent auctions, and dancing. The Friends of Madison Park newsletter says "all your donations go to your neighborhood events and projects."
The Party for the Park page lists what the proceeds support: community events, improvements to shared spaces, neighborhood advocacy, and larger projects. An earlier Friends newsletter reported that a past Party for the Park raised $140,000. That money went to free events, Beautify Madison Park, and next steps on Bathhouse and shoreline design. That newsletter doesn't say how much of it went to the Bathhouse.
So one fundraiser supports free neighborhood events and early design work on a historic building, all from the same pool of money.
The calendar from mid-October through December
Here is the season as Friends of Madison Park and its partners have published it, in date order from today. Some of it comes before the gala and some after:
| Date (2026) | Event | Where | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, Oct 13 | Neighborhood meeting on the Bathhouse and shoreline | The Bathhouse | 7 p.m., with the architect team |
| Through Sat, Oct 17 | Farmers Market | 42nd Ave E | Final weeks of the season |
| Sat, Oct 24 | Party for the Park | Broadmoor Golf Club | Doors 5:30 p.m., ticketed |
| Sat, Oct 31 | Trick or Treat in Madison Park | Business district | Starts 4 p.m. |
| Thu, Nov 5 | Holiday Open House | Martha E Harris Flowers & Gifts | Afternoon |
| Sat, Nov 7 | Little Beats: Highlight Quartet | McGilvra Elementary cafeteria | 11 a.m., $5 at the door |
| Sat, Nov 14 | Fall Clean-Up | Check in at the Bank of America parking lot | 9 to 10 a.m. |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Wreath making, Co-op Winter Wonderland, tree lighting | The Bathhouse, then the park by the playground | Tree lighting at 5 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 19 | Christmas Ships and bonfire | The beach | 2:35 to 2:55 p.m. |
A few of these need a closer look before you plan around them.
Trick or Treat includes candy in the business district, a costumed pup parade, a photo booth run by the preschool co-op, and a DJ. The event listing gives 4 to 7 p.m., while the fall newsletter says 4 to 6. The listing also calls October 31 a Friday, but it falls on a Saturday this year. Arriving early covers both versions.
Little Beats has moved to the McGilvra Elementary School cafeteria at 1617 East 38th Street. Enter at the north gates on East Blaine. Admission is $5 per person, or $18 for a season pass. After Highlight Quartet on November 7, the series continues January 2 with a lineup still to be announced and February 6 with Harmonica Pocket.
December 5 is the busiest day of the year at the Bathhouse. Nicole Morgan leads the wreath-making class there, now in its third year. It costs $100 per person, and participants are asked to bring a few fresh cuttings from their own yards. The Madison Park Co-Op Winter Wonderland drop-in crafting party is also at the Bathhouse. Both times are still listed as TBD. At 5 p.m., the tree lighting happens in the park by the playground, with McGilvra Elementary students singing. An artisan market is listed for the season, but its dates aren't set yet.
Two weeks later, on December 19, the Christmas Ships pass the beach between 2:35 and 2:55 p.m., and a bonfire follows.
The Bathhouse already hosts the season it's being redesigned for
Look at where the indoor events happen. The October 13 meeting, the wreath class, and the Co-op Winter Wonderland are all at the Bathhouse, in October and December. The redesign aims to make year-round use the building's main purpose.
The Friends of Madison Park project page says the group leads the work with the City. Seattle Parks & Recreation and Seattle Parks Foundation are partners. Signal Architecture + Research is designing the Bathhouse, and Anchor QEA is handling the landscape and shoreline. The project's goals include:
- Keeping the building's historic character while updating flexible space for the existing preschool and for meetings, gatherings, and exercise classes year-round
- Better restrooms, improved swimming and lake access, and storage for lifeguard equipment and small craft, with possible kayak and paddleboard access
- Shoreline work on erosion, invasive plant removal, water quality, and habitat for wildlife, including migrating salmon
- Barrier-free access to the waterfront, safer street crossings, and energy-efficient building upgrades
The project page says these goals came from feedback from more than 500 park users and an initial code review, along with Anchor QEA's assessment of current conditions. An earlier Friends meeting notice framed year-round restroom access, accessible dock improvements, safer swimming areas, preschool needs, and historic preservation as topics for community input. They weren't settled design commitments.
None of the sources we reviewed give a project budget, a confirmed public funding amount, a construction start, or a completion date. The Madison Park Times named the same group of collaborators in March 2025. Seattle Parks Board minutes from September 2025 describe the Parks Department working with community fundraising within the City's asset-management process. They don't include an appropriation. The project is still in design, and the winter events at the Bathhouse are the clearest example of the use it's being designed for.
Tomorrow night's meeting brings the architects to the Bathhouse
The fall newsletter describes the Tuesday, October 13 meeting as a 7 p.m. interactive session at the Bathhouse with the architect team, "as we move into the next phase of design." The event listing shows the same date from 7 to 8 p.m. However, the graphic attached to that listing on the Friends homepage is labeled as a canceled meeting. Check with Friends of Madison Park before walking down Tuesday evening.
If the meeting goes ahead, its order on the calendar is useful. It comes eleven days before the gala that funds the next year of this work. Feedback given on the 13th reaches the design team before the money raised on the 24th is spent.
On East Madison, a new pub owner is also asking what the neighborhood wants
What Now Seattle reported in August that The Attic at 4226 E. Madison St. had been bought by Amber Davis and Kenji Jensen-Otsu, who have owned Triangle Spirits in Fremont since 2017. According to that report, they plan to keep the current staff and hear from Madison Park residents before making changes. The one confirmed plan is adding Triangle Spirits' fried chicken to the menu. Jensen-Otsu told What Now Seattle, "You don't go in and try to change it. You go in and try to make it better and make it last for a long time."
The building has been a neighborhood gathering place in different forms since 1907 and has operated as The Attic since 1967. It closed in 2020 and reopened under new ownership in 2023. The menu still covers lunch, dinner, happy hour, and weekend brunch, with scratch-made burgers, sandwiches, and fish and chips.
If you missed the summer side of this calendar, our August look at Madison Park's concerts, markets, and beach changes covers the months the Bathhouse is usually known for. The December 5 tree lighting is at 5 p.m. by the playground, a short walk from the building that's being redesigned for the rest of the year.
At Theodora Cornelia, we're following the Bathhouse and shoreline plans as they move through design, because changes along the waterfront affect how homes in Madison Park are seen. If you own near the park and want to know where your home stands before those plans take shape, request a free home valuation and we'll go through it with you.
